Lakes worldwide feel the heat from climate change

Warming waters are disrupting freshwater fishing and recreation

HOT WATER Oceans aren’t the only bodies of water affected by climate change. Lake Huron (shown) and many lakes worldwide could experience ecological, recreational and economic impacts from warming.

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About 40 kilometers off Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, in the waters of Lake Superior, rises the stone lighthouse of Stannard Rock. Since 1882, it has warned sailors in Great Lakes shipping lanes away from a dangerous shoal. But today, Stannard Rock also helps scientists monitor another danger: climate change.

Since 2008, a meteorological station at the lighthouse has been measuring evaporation rates at Lake Superior. And while weather patterns can change from year to year, Lake Superior appears to be behaving in ways that, to scientists, indicate long-term climate change: Water temperatures are rising and evaporation is up, which leads to lower water levels in some seasons. That’s bad news for hydropower plants, navigators, property owners, commercial and recreational fishers and anyone who just enjoys the lake.

When most people think of the physical effects of climate change, they picture melting glaciers, shrinking sea ice or flooded coastal towns (

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